Moving music swells and climaxes as a series of images championing female empowerment dance across the screen: the clips show a woman experiencing a rare moment of pure body acceptance or a scene demonstrating the sexist stereotypes of gendered language.

It’s feminism neatly packaged into an infinitely shareable two-minute clip, the friendly kind of feminism that people who don’t consider themselves the F-word feel safe posting to their Facebook walls.

One could argue that messages of gender equality are important enough that it doesn’t matter if they precede ad copy for a shampoo company. But that line of thinking conveniently misses the point, particularly when it’s beauty companies who are using feminism to sell products.

Brands like Dove and Pantene have made millions by preying on women’s insecurities and convincing them they need to buy products to meet societal standards of beauty: sure, you’re beautiful just the way you are, but use our products and you can be even more beautiful.

“Real Beauty” features and advertisements cleverly sell you products under the guise of body-positivity while actually reinforcing the idea that a woman’s worth is based on the way she looks to others.

While on the surface videos like Pantene’s “Labels Against Women” show beauty brands bucking traditional standards by embracing body positivity instead of ignoring it, it’s still important to recognize these videos for what they truly are: a clever way for the same old companies to make money off of women. And there’s nothing less feminist than that.

I wholeheartedly disagree and here's why. We are all very aware what advertisers want from us. But usually we are very unaware of the impact the usual ads have. There are numerous studies on the impact 'normal', very sexist advertising has on women's self-confidence. If we have to have ads (which right now, we do), then at least we can have ads that support women, show alternative views and most importantly, raise awareness.

It's this last point that I think we need to understand more than any other. If you look at the way media portrays women, it's all second class stuff (look at Geena Davis' work for very useful insight into this). These commercials raise women's awareness. In our research, it's the lack of awareness of gender stereotypes that maintains current norms of behavior. I applaud these companies for changing what we see.

If you want any of the research I've mentioned here.

jodidetjen

co-author of The Orange Line: A Woman's Guide to Integrating Career, Family and Life

C'mon guys. It's freakin' SHAMPOO, not a gender-specific product. But what I'm about to say applies even if it IS a gender-specific beauty product.

Women are still encouraged to buy beauty products, yes, but more because they feel good about the positive image of their own body. The effect of these ads is to destroy the standards of the past, and create more realistic models. The Jezebel writer might have been a little too wistful in the wrong direction, and assumed that women must rebel by doing the exact opposite of the prevailing standards. But isn't a lurch in the opposite extreme direction also harmful?

I applaud Pantene and Dove for efforts to try to create more moderate standards of beauty. Let's face it: as long as we have societies, we will have standards of beauty. We are simply evolving to create a more inclusive society, which is achievable by respect for other people's preferences. The question of whether women feel that their self-worth is related to how they look is actually a general question of self-confidence, which should be dealt with by oneself rather than society as a whole. If I endeavor to change society to fit "me", that means that I rely on society and its norms for my self-worth. I should then abandon the whole idea of "self-worth"!

Of course, companies do this to attract people to their product, but then again, that's how ads are supposed to work. Are their ads delusional or deceptive? That is the bottom line, which this article doesn't answer. How is Dove supposed to sell soap, then? How is Pantene supposed to sell shampoo? The article should have answered this question directly. These ads give out positive messages, which should be encouraged - well, if your goal is to have a more inclusive society.

hahahahahahahahahahahaha....how about we just become smarter as a society and not pretend that we need to or are going to look like the 10 people on earth who look like they do that are in the dove commercial... Watching the Hanes commercials with the ripped men in underwear makes me feel unsexy when I look at myself in the mirror

@Ken-TerikaZellner @IliveahWaters1 They mean that feminism is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." Which is not germane to these ads whatsoever.